Demons
by Daikuno Mao
Summary: Demons. What if there were so many, that they became an everyday part of life? What if there were so many, that the elemental nations all allowed their ninja the choice to bond together into a force to fight them. And what happens to the Jinchuurki, who are hated, and hunted down by the entire world. NaruHina elements at the beginning. Becomes NaruFemKyuu. Full Summery Inside.
1. Chapter 1

So, I know I should be writing for my other stories, but I had this idea on my mind, and even wrote a synopsis of it during a boy scout campout last weekend.

Anyways, let me write a summery real quick, because the story wouldn't make sense otherwise.

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><p>Demons. In Canon, they're rare, represented by only the nine Bijuu. Here, however, they are numerous. There numbers, while still not clear that of humans, is enough that humans have taken the time to study them and learn. They know ways to kill lower demons, and the seals they have developed are much more powerful, binding or combining the souls of the two rather than just jailing one with the other. People hate Jinchuuriki even more, as there is a basis to believing that the hosts are demons.<p>

However, most demons are only sealed from necessity, instead of for power. In fact, only three of the bijuu are sealed at the start of our story. The Ichibi resides within Gaara after it rampaged through the Land of Wind; The gobi was sealed in Iwa after it attacked for reasons still unknown, but the Jinchuuriki fled the village and is still missing; And finally, the hachibi is sealed in Kirabi of Kumo.

All three summonings cost the lives of hundreds or thousands, and the power of the bijuu has led them to be revered by humans and demons alike. They are feared by humans, the ultimate nightmare, and respected by demons, lords and ladies among the upper echelons of the demon race. These particular demons rarely leave their domain, instead they rule the others who have pledged themselves to the bijuu.

To combat demons, especially after it was discovered that they were as smart as humans, and smarter in some cases, the Akumanoshi(Sometimes called Akuma or Hunters) was formed. Joining it is considered one of the most prestigious things a ninja can do, and is particularly revered by clans like the Hyuuga.

Hinata, for example, has dreamed of joining the Akumanoshi since she was able to walk. This becomes her goal and drive, giving her something besides Naruto to aspire to. Her clan is very receptive of this, and it gives her much more confidence.

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><p>Aside from all of that, I just want to point out that this story will start out with minor NaruHina, but it won't stay that way for very long, and Hinata will become an antagonist. If either of these bother you so much that you can't read this story, hit the back button and look elsewhere.<p>

For everyone that hasn't left, I hope you like it and remember that reviews are _always_ appreciated.

Also, this story starts a week before Naruto was born, not during his academy days.

Demons

Chapter 1

_Akuma file:_

_Subject: Kyuubi_

_Class: XX class Demon - Bijuu - Nine tales _

_FLEE ON SITE. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, ATTEMPT TO COMBAT._

The Kyuubi is the Queen of Demons, and thought to be the most powerful being in existence. She is currently residing in Hi no Kuni(See map below) in one of its many forests.

Kyuubi is not an aggressive or unstable demon, so she should not be a concern unless provoked. She keeps many demons, both kitsune and otherwise, at her beck and call as an army and as servants. All of these are at least class B demons, and as such fighting her with her army nearby would be a fatal mistake.

She has been come across by many Hunters, including Harashima Senju during his time with us. She has killed all but the aforementioned Hokage, however both walked away from the fight with wounds, although the Senju's were much more severe.

From his fight, we have been able to obtain quite a bit of information on her.

She is capable of wielding all five elements effectively in combat, and some sub-elements, however she is the most dangerous with fire lightning. Her taijutsu is powerful, far out powering the first Hokage even while being much faster. Her genjutsu is also strong, as she is skilled in multilayered, subtle, and obvious genjutsu. However, Harashima noted that she seemed to be able to use genjutsu to a greater extent than she did during their fight.

She also wields a katana, and is noted to be one of the greatest kenjutsu users he had ever seen. This seems to be her primary form of combat, and when used in conjunction with her nin and gen jutsu makes her capable of fighting both numerous and powerful opponents.

The only otherwise notable thing is that she commonly hunts alone, even though food can easily be brought to her by her underlings.

The man looked up from the file he had on his desk, deep in thought. He glanced between it and numerous other files lying around the room.

The room itself was a study, with bookcases lining the walls windows looking out on the village in which it resided and the forests beyond. There was an oak desk in the middle of the room, at which a man worked, wearing black shinobi pants and tight fitting green shirt, along with a jounin vest and a Kusa headband. He was tall, standing above six feet, had black hair and eyes and was in his late twenties. The man was Katsu Tsuri, a high ranking member of the Akumanoshi.

The files which were spread over his desk were that of a great number of Akumonoshi soldiers as well as that of geological surveys of parts of Hi no Kuni, the Kyuubi, kitsune demons, and advanced sealing techniques, along with a cup of tea.

He grabbed a notepad on his desk and began scribbling on it, writing a number of things. During the middle of his notes, the door to his office swung open, letting a man wearing similar garb, but a decade or so older walk in. This man was shorter than the other, though not by much. He had brown hair and green eyes.

"Katsu…" The man trailed off.

"Michi. Is there any reason that you interrupted my planning?" Katsu asked.

The newly identified Michi responded. "Yes, in fact. I was wondering why you were checking out files on the Kyuubi herself for your latest mission. You know that initiating a fight with her is strictly against Akuma rules, don't you?"

The younger man put his pen down and looked the other man in his eyes. "You may be my superior, Michi, but I talked with Daichi-sama about this. He agreed with me that we need a way to improve recruitment, and that killing or sealing the Kyuubi would do so perfectly."

"And you're telling me that Daichi-sama _agreed _to this insane plan? To piss off the most powerful thing in existence?" Michi cried.

Katsu didn't answer immediately, instead slowly reaching over and picking up his cup of tea. He took a sip, then after a few seconds another.

Only after he placed the cup back down did he answer. "Hai."

Michi turned and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him. Katsu watched the waves in his tea before returning to writing in his notepad.

**A week later, a Hi no Kuni forest**

A nine tailed fox, the size of a horse, sped through the trees like a bolt of lightning, dodging the trunks without slowing down. It took her only a few seconds to catch up to her prey, a large buck. It jumped onto the mammal, sinking its claws into the deer's hide, and ripping its throat out with its teeth. As the deer keeled over, the fox got up and circled her prey, waiting for it to die until it consumed its meal.

Before the quadruped died, however, the fox paused. Suddenly the fox stood on its back two legs. Its bones snapped as its skeleton reformed and its muscles reformed. At the same time, the fox began to shrink, stopping when it reached just below six feet.

There was a cloud of smoke the poofed to obscure its form, and when it faded, a woman stepped out. She was imcomprehenibly beautiful, with alabaster skin and hair that was crimson red with hints of orange that reflected the light so that it almost looked like her hair was awash with sheets of fire when it moved. Her eyes were a slitted crimson to match her hair and she wore a black silk battle Kimono with stitchings of foxes with varying numbers of tails. She also wore a katana at her hip, with a beautiful black and red sheath.

When she spoke, her voice was both powerful and soothing. For the men hiding in the trees, it was one of the most amazing sounds they had every heard, despite the words.

"I know you're there. Come out now and explain yourselves before I kill you."

Only one of the dozens of men came out. Katsu looked the demoness in the eye. "Kyuubi no kitsune. Kyuubi no yoko. The fox of nine tails. So many names and titles, but in the end it boils down to the fact that you're the most powerful thing ever seen by human kind."

"If you're trying to get in my pants, you picked a bad place and an even worse time. I can't say I like the company you brought either." She called back to the man with a small smirk, which let one of her long canines poke over her lip.

He blushed, and after a confused pause, he continued. "T-That is not why we are here." He cleared his throat. "You may be the most powerful demon ever to exist, but tonight, fox, you die." He slashed his arm through the air and the first wave of men in the trees shot towards the woman.

As Katsu watched, time seemed to slow as twenty to his men reaching their target the Kyuubi grasped the hilt of her katana.

Fifteen; She didn't move.

Ten; She smirked.

Five feet away she clicked the first inch of the gleaming steel from its home, then she vanished. The clearing they were in was showered in blood as all of the human occupants were covered in no less than seven slashes each. On the tree where he was standing, Katsu had blocked the demons Katana with his wakizashi.

His ablaze with fury as his blade was slowly pushed back by hers. "Those were all S class ninja, some of the best that Akumanoshi has to offer… How can anyone, even a Bijuu be this strong. I helped to seal the Hachibi, but even compared to him you're on an entirely different level."

She laughed, a beautiful sound even if Katsu didn't appreciate it at the moment. "The other Bijuu are complacent. They use raw power and size to beat everything out of their way. I on the other hand have trained my skill to unparalleled levels. Its why I'm the only demon to achieve or even get close to an XX rating." She laughed again as another wave of men appeared. "I don't know why you chose to try and kill me, but I'll make sure you regret it."

A sealing array suddenly spread from Katsu's wakazashi to the Kyuubi's Katana. He smirked at her. "I guess it's a good thing I took extra precautions then. Before you die, however," He said smirking. "I would like to know the name of the Kyuubi herself."

A spark of excitement danced in her eyes. "I suppose that I can tell you my name… Kaede."

She broke the blade lock and jumped back. As she was in mid air, she called back to the Hunter. "Bis peccare in bello non licet."

The second wave, larger and more prepared than the first, fared slightly better. A few survived the initial assault and quickly locked blades with the demon.

Katsu stared at the demon. "It isn't allowed to err twice in war?" His face hardened and he rushed forward to help the surviving members of the second wave in combating the Kyuubi. "Then I'll make sure not to mess up once."

**Ten minutes later**

Kaede, back in her fox form, ran through the forest even faster then when she was chasing her prey fifteen minutes prior. _'Tch. There were too many for even me to combat. Even after I killed nearly a hundred of them, they still kept coming.'_

She kept running even when the Hunters fell out of her impressive sensing range, even as she started to tire.

'_Even I can't sprint at these speeds forever'._ She thought. _"I don't even know where I'm going anymore.' _It was true. She had ran in the direction in which she had the best chance of escaping, and let her instinct guide her from there. She slowed down ever so slightly and tried to recognize the area in which she was in, with no luck.

With no other options, she forged on, running straight and hoping to find some kind of landmark with with to orient herself. After she continued running for another couple of minutes, she saw light on the horizon. She sped back up, hoping to find a way back to her den and the army that resided there.

Before she could get all the way of the source of the lights, however, her incredible hearing picked up sounds only a couple dozen yards from where she was. She lowered herself to the ground and crept closer to the source of the sounds.

When she found the sounds origin she peaked her head out of the bushes she was behind to find an area lit by candles and surrounded by shinobi in masks that, by their chakra capacities, were quite strong for humans. In the center of the area was an old woman, a tall blond man who radiated confidence and authority, and a redheaded woman who appeared to be giving birth.

Kaede felt compelled to sit down all the way and watch, which she did. After about ten minutes and a lot of screaming, the old woman wrapped something in a blanket. She then handed the bundle to the redhead. The woman took the bundle and held it so she could see the babies face.

She ended up holding it in a way that Kaede could see the babies face. As soon as she saw it the demon fox's breath hitched and her heart skipped a beat. _'His soul… I feel a connection to his soul.'_

Before she knew what was happening, her legs were moving forward and taking the rest of her body with them. When she fully came out of the bush and rose to her full height, her eyes locked still locked onto the small blonde child she heard the woman speak. "Naruto… Your name is Naruto now."

Feeling light headed now, Kaede moved further forward and the blond man's eyes shot up to her. She noticed the shinobi surround her immediately but ignored them and continued forward until the blonde appeared in front of her in a yellow flash, knocking her out of her reverie.

The man stared at her for a moment. "You're the Kyuubi aren't you?" After a pause he continued. "I am the Hokage Minato Namikaze. What is your business here, we have done nothing to disturb you."

Kaede looked the man in the eyes, then shifted to her human form. "Your son… He's-" Before she could finish her sentence she saw a glint of metal out of the corner of her eye.

As soon as she saw it she shot forward, moving past the Hokage and his guards faster than they could react.

Minato flashed to his wife in order to protect her and his newborn son, but she ignored him in favor of blocking the ninjato aimed for Naruto's heart.

The man wielding the ninjato was immediately cut in two, and he dropped to the ground dead. The other shinobi that accompanied the Namikaze were soon engaged by other shinobi coming out of the trees, at the same time as those that aimed for the Hokage and his family.

Kyuubi moved to engage those that were aiming to kill the newborn. Her katana, now coated in a fine sheen of wind chakra, cut down the closest man before he could even register her movement. She moved onto the next one, cutting him and the one next to him down with one slash.

With still none of them noticing her, she slit four more's throats in rapid succession, and bisected a solid dozen by bounding off of nearby trees like a pinball. She noticed a hail of oddly shaped kunai rain over the area, but missing her and any of the Hokage's masked shinobi.

Ignoring the kunai, she shot towards her next target. But right as she was about to kill him, there was a flash of yellow to her right and the man's throat was slot. She slid to a stop and looked around, seeing that most of the attackers were dead. The Hokage was appeared next to her in a flash of yellow.

"So," Kaede started. "You're the yellow flash that I've heard about."

He looked over at her. "And you're the fabled Kyuubi… I don't know why you're helping me, but I thank you. It's an honor to fight with you."

She nodded. "My name is Kaede. If you're going to fight alongside me, you should know that."

They both looked over the Iwa force that had come. The ninja numbered in the mid to low hundreds now that the Hokage's shinobi had been killed and the force fighting them had rejoined the main one.

Minato looked over at her again. "Whatever happens, make sure that Naruto survives."

She bared her canines and growled, making some of the Iwa shinobi tremble at the prospect of fighting the ungodly force that was the Kyuubi. "If it costs me my life."

Minato eyed her then turned back. He flicked his arm and a kunai flew into the air, making a large part of the Iwa force look up.

While they were looking up, the two other ninja moved like bolts of lightning, immediately cutting into their enemies. Kyuubi channeled katon and fuuton chakra down her blade, forming a wind blade sharper than any steel coated in white hot flames. Coming down on them with a trail of fire behind her like a comet, she smashed into the stone force's line like a sledgehammer, immediately cutting into the nearest shinobi, whose wounds were immediately cauterized by the fire, and moving onto the next.

Ignoring the flashes in other areas of the line, Kaede tore into her enemies like she had been let loose from the gates of hell itself. After six more Iwa-nin had been felled, she went to cut and man in two. Before the sword you complete its deadly path, however, the man coated himself in stone and grasped her blade.

A smirk on his face, the man threw a punch at the demoness. She channeled raiton chakra into her fist and punched the man in the chest before his fist was halfway to her. The lightning burst his armor open and stopped his heart immediately.

Spinning she sheathed her Katana but kept the high potency raiton chakra coating her limbs. A single touch to the chest ended the lives of more than thirty.

She moved onto the next group. _'After fighting the Akumanoshi elite, these nin are a walk in the park.'_

Pulling out her Katana and coating it in raiton chakra cut through the stone based defences of the next thirty nin. This continued on, with her switching fighting styles as needed and cutting through them like a hot knife through butter.

When she was done, she looked over at Minato, who was standing with a grim look on his face over more than a hundred corpses. She herself had killed just as many, and her number was closer to two hundred then looked at the other two humans in the clearing. The old women had been killed by a stray jutsu from the fight between the Hokages shinobi and the Iwa forces.

The blonde Hokage walked over to his wife, who had gotten enough energy to stand. Kaede followed him, neither looking back at the three hundred dead bodies they had left, or caring about the ground sucking their at their feet from being saturated with the blood of so many.

Minato hugged his wife and then looked at the baby.

"It's ok," he whispered. "You're safe now. The bad men are gone." Naruto, who had been crying before, seemed to calm down at hearing his fathers voice.

He handed the baby back to its mother and turned back to the Queen of Demons. "First, I want to thank you for your help… But I need to ask why? What reason could the most powerful demon in existence have to help us?"

She paused and looked over at the newborn. "I… don't know. All I know is that I get the feeling that… I need to be sealed inside your son."

Minato gave a half glare and a half sceptical look. "You want me to curse my son into being a Jinchuuriki? To make him hated and despised?"

There was a pause before she responded. "You don't have to tell anyone. All you need to do is seal me into him. I will protect him and give him strength. No one will ever know unless you or he tells them."

The fourth Hokage looked at his wife. She stepped forward and looked the demoness in the eye. "You'll protect him? And you won't let anyone hurt him? That's what you're saying you'll do?" The redhead asked.

Kaede nodded. "I already promised Minato I wouldn't let your son die, and I can be there when you and he can't."

"Will it hurt him?" She asked critically.

Kaede turned to Minato, who sighed. "A little, but he won't feel it. He's too young."

"Then… I guess I'm alright with it. You already proved you want to protect him." The redhead said.

Minato grimaced for a moment. "I don't really like this, but the pros do outway the cons… And we do owe you our lives. Alright, i'll get the array started."

A brush and ink popped out of a sealing array on his arm, and he opened Naruto's blanket and began writing seals on him. After around ten minutes of drawing complex seals, the blonde put the child down and began drawing on the ground.

He finished the seals in around the same time. The seals on the ground were more spread out, so it covered a circle a couple yards in diameter. He motioned for the demoness to sit in a blank spot in the array. She did so without hesitation, anxious to get the sealing done. Minato stood on the edge of the array and laid his hands down on it.

He began channeling chakra into the marks, and they began to glow, starting from the newborn boy and slowly expanding outward. At the rate they were moving, it would finish in around ten minutes.

Suddenly a the remaining Akumanoshi force jumped out of the trees and onto the forest ground. Kaede tried to stand to fight them, but found she couldn't move anything below her neck.

"Minato! Stop the sealing and let me fight them." She yelled.

He looked at her. "I can't stop it without killing both of you." Then he turned to the Akuma. "What do you want here?"

The man who was now in charge after Kaede had killed Katsu stepped forward. "You know what we want. The Kyuubi must die."

"From what Daichi-dono told me, your objective is to kill or _seal _the Kyuubi. I'm sealing her, so there is no reason for you to be here." Minato replied.

The man, who was a Kumo-nin glanced over the sealing array. "We both know that the demon could overload that array and kill the child without a second thought. She wants to be sealed. I don't know why a demon would want such a thing, but it can't be good. Stop this, Hokage-sama, or we will be forced to kill you.

Minato grimaced, then sighed. "I owe this demoness my life, and I will not kill her and my son to stop a sealing that she requested. I will kill all of you if I must, but I will protect them."

Kaede could only watch in horror as Minato engaged at least fifty S or SS class Hunters. Her horror only grew when she saw the Hokage's wife, in her weakened state, jump into the fray as well.

Over the next few minutes, in a flurry of blood and blades, all but one of the Akumanoshi were slain. The leader stood, with a few cuts littering his body. Minato and his wife were also standing there, but in much worse shape. The Kumo nin watched both warily, his dual wizashi hanging by his sides.

"You are truly a fearsome fighter, Hokage-sama. It pains me to have to kill someone like yourself because you're a demon lover." He said.

The Hokage and his wife blurred out of site. Kaede watched with wide eyes as both of their kunai pierced the Akuma's neck, but one of his blades pierced each of their stomachs. The two leaf-nin let the body drop and they stumbled over to where the demoness was still in the process of being sealed.

They dropped to their knees next to their newborn son, who was bawling, as if he knew what was happening despite his eyes having been closed the entire time.

"Naruto… My son," Minato said. "I will always love you. Be the best man you can be and find someone that makes you happy."

"Naru-chan." His wife began. "Make sure that you always do the right thing… and be nice to others. Make sure that no matter what you do, listen… to your… heart." At this, both breathed their last, dying together with their hands intertwined and laying next to their newborn son.

This sight forced tears to Kaede's eyes, but before she could let them free, the seals on the edge of the circle glowed and she was violently pulled into the stomach of the youngest and last surviving Namikaze.

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><p>AN: And that marks the end of the first chapter of demons. I hope that you liked it, because I could have written a chapter for Jinchuuriki or Psionics instead.<p>

Anyways, leave a review and thanks for reading.


	2. Chapter 2

Woah… I had thought I had gotten way more reviews then I thought I would. Anyways, I really appreciate everyone who reviewed. They're always welcome, and if I can, I'll answer any questions you have.

Demons:

Chapter 2:

The sun rose over the village of Konoha, casting its warmth over the village people as it went. As the people woke up and went about their business, shopkeepers opening their stores and stands at the same time that Ninja changed patrol shifts or got their missions from the Hokage, the academy opened its doors for the first time of the year for a new batch of students eager to start learning the ways of the Leaf Ninja.

In particular, a small boy with a mop of blond hair walked slowly into his classroom, looking around at the myriad of faces which populated the room in which he would be spending so much time in over the next six years.

He walked over to an empty seat, next to a girl with raven colored locks, who was looking around with wide eyes filled with wonder. As he sat down, she looked over at him, and he realised with a start that her eyes had no pupils and were just a light lavender.

She caught him staring and gave him a slight glare. "What is it?" She demanded.

He blushed and looked away, ashamed at being caught staring. "I-Its just… Your eyes are really cool looking."

Now it was her turn to blush and look away. "A-Ah… Thank you, I guess."

After a brief pause, they looked at each other. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. What's yours?"

She looked at him for a short moment. "Hinata Hyuuga. It's nice to meet." She gave him a shallow bow as well as she could sitting down.

He looked at her for a second, confused as he wondered what he was supposed to do back. She gave him a small glare, which he thought was cute coming from the young girl. "I-Im sorry, I don't know what I'm supposed to do."

Her eye twitched as she responded. "You're supposed to bow."

"Bow? Is that what you did?" He asked, his confusion clear on his face. "Alright!"

He grinned and tried to copy what she had done, and promptly smashed his head into the desk in his enthusiasm.

As he sat back up and rubbed his head, muttering 'Itai', Hinata giggled at his misfortune.

"HEY! IT'S NOT FUNNY" He yelled. This, of course, just made her laugh, rather than giggle. His head dropped as he realised that he wasn't going to get anywhere and she was still going to laugh at him no matter what he said.

"You're funny." She said. "Do you want to be my friend?"

His eyes widened. "Your-Your friend?" After a brief pause, he started bouncing up and down in his seat. "YES! Of course!"

She looked at him weirdly. "You act like you've never had a friend before."

He looked away again bashfully. "I-I haven't. At the orphanage where I live, the other kids don't seem to like to be around me. The adults try and convince them to play with me, but they never want to."

She gasped. "That's horrible! Well I'll just have to make up for all of the friends that you don't have!"

He cocked his head to the side and looked at her. "I-I guess." After a short pause he kept going. "Yeah, and I'll be sure to be the best friend ever!" He said resolutely.

"Alright, everybody quiet down!" A voice called from the from of the room. When everybody kept talking, the teacher yelled at them. "I SAID BE QUIET!"

The class became dead silent, sitting ramrod straight in their seats. "Good. Welcome to your first year of the Konoha ninja academy. In these walls, you will learn how to be faithful and strong Leaf Ninja. It hurts me to say that some of you, who I can see are all so eager to be strong, loyal ninja to the Leaf, will drop out or fail the graduation exam. But for the rest of you, I will do whatever I can to make you the best you can ever be.

"And a select few, the very best, might have the option to join the fabled Akumanoshi. They are a group of elite ninja from across the elemental nations, who hunt and kill demons, beings who want nothing more than to kill every human they can find. In fact class, we have a special guest, a high ranking member of the Akumanoshi, who came all the way here to tell you about the organization." As he finished his long winded speech, a man walked in through the door.

He was tall, with black hair and eyes, and walked with a sort of grace that came only with being an experienced and powerful shinobi. His appearance was marred, however, by a number of scars that trailed from his face and disappearing into his green shirt. By the way he moved, they looked painful, even after however long it had been since he received them.

"Ohayou, children. My name is Katsu Tsuri, and I am a member of the combat division of the Akumanoshi, though you may hear them referred to as the Akuma or as Hunters. I came to talk to you about what my organization does and what it stands for." Naruto looked over at Hinata as the man paused. She was staring at the man with wide, starstruck eyes, enraptured by his mere presence.

"The Akuma have a long history, dating back to before even the Hidden Village system. They have been made up of the best Ninja in the world since its founding, and work for the sole purpose of protecting humanity from the demons." He continued. "The demons are a scourge upon the elemental nations, good for nothing besides destruction and death. Before we were formed, Humans lived in constant fear of being killed by our natural enemies.

"Once the Akumanoshi was formed, however, people started to realise that they could fight back, and that they weren't doomed to live in fear.

"Today, the Akuma have managed to stabilize the world, finding a place for humans to live and prosper. We even have parts of our organization that are dedicated to going and finding the most powerful and threatening demons there are and killing them before they can become a problem.

"But, we still need more people to join our ranks. The demons are still strong, and we need the best young ninja to help us to combat them. That is why I came here today, to ask that those of you who want to protect your fellow humans consider trying to achieve the great honor that is becoming a part of the Akumanoshi." Naruto watched the man look around the classroom, observing those that looked like they were willing to join. There were quite a few, including Hinata, a raven haired boy with a fan on the back of his shirt, and a pink and blonde haired girl who seemed to be in competition with each other about something or another.

"Are there any questions?" Katsu asked. Hinata's hand immediately flew into the air. "Yes, miss Hyuuga?"

Naruto wondered how he knew her surname, but ignored it in favor of paying attention to what Hinata was asking. "What are the requirements to join? It's always been my dream to be a part of the Hunters, but no one has ever told me how to become one."

He smiled at her, considering her question before responding. "At every graduating class, we have a representative who will ask for volunteers. If you agree to try, you will be tested for your proficiency in the basic ninja arts and how much you know beyond that. If you pass, you will be put into a special training program unique to the Akumanoshi rather than the usual teams that Lead-nin's are placed in."

"Domo arigato, Tsuri-san." She said politely, bowing before taking her seat.

Katsu looked around once more for any questions, and when there were none, he nodded to Iruka before turning back to the class. "If there is anything more you would like to know about us, please, just ask your teacher. He will be able to get in contact with someone who can tell you more." With his peace spoken, the ninja turned and walked out of the room, leaving Iruka to tend to the students.

"Alright class, the first thing we're going to talk about are the basics of chakra. Now, chakra is the combination…"

**A few hours later**

"...Like the Grand Fireball Jutsu." Iruka paused to look at the clock sitting on his desk. "It looks like it's time for lunch. Please be back in a half an hour." The class, looking to be free of the lectures which Iruka had been giving for the last few hours, bolted out the door to eat their lunches with their friends.

Naruto walked slowly behind the rush of children, alone as Hinata went to talk to Iruka about finding someone to teach her about the Akumanoshi. He wandered down the halls of the Academy for a few minutes, having nothing to do and no one to talk to. Eventually he found his way to the front entrance of the school, and walked out to find the rest of his class scattered about eating whatever they had brought for lunch.

Naruto himself walked over to the swing that was tied to the tree across the road from the main building. He sat and watched the rest of the class eat, laugh, and play for a good six or seven minutes while he waited for class to resume. He heard his stomach rumble as, and he looked down, as if to see if he had shrunken since he had last eaten.

When he looked up, he was surprised to see Hinata standing in front of him, a confused look on her face and a bento box in her hands. The sight of the food container made his mouth water slightly, but he ignored it and looked back at her.

"Did you already finish eating Naruto-kun?" She asked.

He was a bit taken back by the honorific added to the end of his name, but answered nonetheless. "Uh… No, I don't have anything to eat. The orphanage doesn't really let any of the children to be around the food, so I had no way of getting something to bring."

She gasped, taken aback. "That's horrible! How can they not give you a lunch?"

"Well… The adults don't talk about it much, but I think that they're running out of money, and they can't afford to make lunch for all of the kids every day." He replied.

She gasped again, her face expressing her disbelief this time. "Eat part of my lunch!"

"W-W-What?" Naruto stuttered.

"You said that you wanted to be my friend right?" At his wide eyed nod, she continued. "Well friends share! So take part of my lunch!"

Naruto stared at her for a second, about to graciously accept her offer when he heard her stomach growl even louder than his had previously. He stopped and stared questioningly at her. "Wha? D-Did you eat breakfast?"

She looked away. "N...No." She replied quietly.

"Then I can't accept part of your lunch! I already ate breakfast, but you didn't so you need to eat all of the food you have!" He exclaimed.

"Bu-" She started.

"No!" He said resolutely. He pushed the bento, which she had put in front of his face, back into her chest, and turned away, ending the argument.

She looked like she was about to continue the argument, but another growl from her stomach silenced her, and she quickly sat down and devoured her lunch.

**Fifteen minutes later, schoolyard**

"I hope you had a good lunch class, but now it's time for the next part of our lesson. We already talked about chakra, and learned as much about it as we needed to, but now it's time to practice what we learned. I want you all to get into meditative positions." Iruka demonstrated the position they were supposed to get into. He stood up and walked around, looking at all of the students and correcting them where he saw mistakes.

Once he had looked and made sure they all knew the right pose, he returned to the front of the group of students and sat back down.

"Now, the first thing you need to do as a ninja is access your chakra. This pose is what you'll use to do so before you get the hang of it and can do it no matter what you're doing." The class nodded, eagerly waiting for their sensei to continue explaining how to access that which was the most visible and debatably most awesome part of being a ninja.

"Now, take a deep breath, and hold it. Now wait three seconds… And breath out. Repeat this, and make sure to take your time and do it slowly." He looked around, making sure his students were doing as he instructed. "Just pay attention to your breathing, and take your time. Good.

"Now," He continued. "Concentrate on the bottom of your stomach… Just continue breathing, and make sure to concentrate."

After another few seconds he continued. "Just feel around there for a ball of warmth, an invigorating energy. Good, just keep doing that and don't forget to take deep breaths. Once you find your energy, take hold of it and draw it out slowly. Don't worry about channeling it for now, just let it out."

One by one, the students pulled out minute amounts of chakra and released it into the air. When they did so, they looked at their teacher for approval, who nodded and smiled at them.

Naruto felt every surge of chakra as if it was directed right at him, something that he wasn't sure was completely normal. When he felt one from, however, Hinata he realised that he was the last person who had not pulled forth the energy, too busy feeling everyone else release theirs. He cracked an eye open and saw everyone staring at him expectantly. He took another deep breath and scrunched his eyes as he concentrated even harder. Suddenly he felt what seemed to be a ball of burning plasma in his midriff, bouncing around and waiting to be loosed from its bonds.

He granted its wish, letting as little of it as he could come out, and felt surprised when a huge amount burst forth, flattening the grass around him, and blowing other students hair away from him.

When he opened his eyes, he realised that his chakra was not the sky blue his classmates had been, but instead was a light purple. He looked at Iruka questioningly. "Sensei?"  
>The man looked a bit taken aback, but quickly recovered. "Ah… Hmm… Naruto, you seem to have what's called a kekkei genkai." He said to the boy, then addressed the entire class.<p>

"Students, a kekkei genkai is a useful ability or trait passed down through the descendants of a clan. They're very rare, and having one can be a great boon to your ninja career. Naruto seems to have both special chakra, and more of it. He may even have as much as I do!" He laughed. The class looked at Naruto, some amazed, some jealous of his newfound advantage.

He grinned as he let his chakra die down. He felt a little sad at stopping it from flowing through. It felt really nice, and where his classmates chakra felt like a collection of small embers, his felt like a warm fire sweeping through the area. It was both calming and relaxing.

**A few hours later, Konoha public park**

After the academy Naruto found himself wandering through the park, reminiscing on the feeling of the energy flowing through him, warming him from the core. He resisted the urge to call it forth again just to feel it. His sensei had warned against using chakra for no reason, especially before they learned to control it better, as the villages ninja might think something was going wrong.

His thoughts were interrupted as a boy his size crashed into him, followed closely by a small cardboard shuriken.

"HEY!" The other boy yelled. "Watch where you're going!"

Naruto stumbled over his reply, still surprised by the supped jolt. "Uh-Er-Yea, sorry. I was kinda- Uh, I mean… yea, sorry."

The boy looked at him oddly for a second. "Wait, aren't you in my class at the Academy?"

Naruto looked a little closer at him, his face vaguely reminding him of someone he had seen recently. He was about his height, and had fang like tattoos on his cheeks, with brown hair and black eyes.

"Oh! I remember, your name was Kiba, right?" Naruto asked with enthusiasm.

The boy grinned at him, happy that he had remembered his name. "Yep! And your name was Naruto. I remember because of that talk we had with Iruka-sensei about kekkei genkai and your chakra. You know, I have a kekkei genkai too. It comes from my family and lets us work with ninja dogs!"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Really? Thats awesome! I would love to work with a dog, they're awesome."  
>Kiba looked pretty pleased with his clan at the praise. "Of course, dogs are the best animal there is." He claimed with pride.<p>

"Kiba, you lazy bum! Get up already! You're it!" A voice called, obviously pieved about the dog-like boy taking so long in talking to him. A girl with long blonde hair followed soon after the voice, her stride and expression as angry as a six year old girls could be. She stopped when she saw Naruto on the ground and pieced together what must of happened. "Oh, sorry about that, we were just playing ninja and Kiba just go hit, so now he has to hit one of us."

Naruto nodded. He was familiar with the game, having seen some of the kids at the orphanage playing it, even if he never had himself. "It's fine, I don't mind at all."

He got up and brushed himself off, and turned to leave before a voice stopped him. "Naruto-kun?"

Recognizing the voice he immediately turned to face its owner. "Hinata-chan?"

The blonde haired girl, who Naruto had recognized as the one from his class named Ino, looked puzzled for a seconds before turning to the raven haired child. "You know him, Hinata?"

She nodded as Kiba sighed. "He's in our class, Ino. Naruto, remember? Iruka gave a whole lecture on kekkei genkais because of his chakra?"

Ino's mouth formed into an 'O' as she recalled the memory, and recognition flashed across her face as she looked at him again. "I remember you now! Why didn't you say anything before, you should play with us."

"Play… with you?" He asked, seemingly confused. Before any of the other kids could say anything about it, his face broke out into a huge grin. "Sure!"

Over the course of the next several hours, Naruto played ninja with a large majority of his class. He learned the names and faces of Sakura, Sasuke, Choji, Shikamaru, and Shino in addition to the ones he already knew. He learned more then that too, like how most of them had a bloodline in some form or another because they came from large and prestigious clans.

**That night, at the orphanage**

That night, Naruto laid in bed, thinking about his day. In one fourteen hour period, he had managed to make more friends then he had in the rest of his life, not to mention that he had unlocked his chakra and begun learning the ways of the ninja.

Being a ninja was something he had been dreaming of for years, ever since he had been old enough to recognize the incredible feats that the shinobi performed on a daily basis. He had been so enraptured that he had immediately resolved to become one as soon as he could. He had even gone to the library a few times to read books on the subject, though to no avail.

A small smile spread across his face as he fell into the land of dreams, knowing that that day would be the start of a new part of his life.

What he couldn't know however, was just how much so.

**Unknown**

The next morning Naruto yawned and slowly sat up, eyes still closed and making sure not to hit his head on the bunk above him, as he had done quite a few time in the past. He swung his feet over the side of the bed and prepared himself for his second day of classes at the Konoha ninja academy.

Shock ripped through his body and his eyes flew open as he realised that he was not in fact sitting in his bunk at the orphanage, but instead he had been laying down in a dark sewer with ankle high water.

He began to hyperventilate as his eyes flew around the environment he was in. It was a standard sewer, with broken tiles lining the walls and pipes running along the ceiling. Closer inspection of the pipes, however, revealed that they were anything but normal, as they faintly glowed one of two different colors. The closer ones gave of a light purple light, and they held the majority number of the two kinds. The other pipes gave off a deep crimson red, much stronger than the purple pipes it ran beneath.

Before he could consider why the pipes were glowing, much less what the colors meant, Naruto felt himself be forced to stop breathing so fast and he felt the same force make him stand up. He suddenly felt himself compelled to amble slowly down the water filled space, moving to a turn a few yards ahead.

When he reached the turn, he took it and found himself in another room, this one much different than the sewer he had just been in. Where it had been dank, dark, wet, and cold, this room was dry, warm, well lit and had a distinct lack of water on the carpeted floor.

Suddenly aware of the fact that he wasn't wet in the slightest, despite having woken up laying in sewer water, he also noticed that the water that had occupied the space he had come from seemed to fade away as it got closer to the threshold of the room he was in.

Wonder and confusion fought within him, alongside an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. He still had no idea where he was, and the weird happenings weren't helping in the slightest. He looked around the room, hoping to find something that would tell him where he was or how he got there. The room itself seemed to be themed with a red the same crimson as the pipes, and Naruto briefly wondered if there was any connection before continuing his observations.

The room had a red carpet, with no windows. The source of light wasn't visible, as if it was coming from the air itself. There were bookshelves lining the walls, and a table with a few chairs- that had red cushions- and a couple of books sitting on top of it. A bed with an even deeper crimson sheets also sat in the corner, to match the walls of the same color.

Movement caught his eye while he took this all in however, and he immediately spotted a large fox, about the size of a large dog, in the far corner. The movement he had seen was the swaying of its tail. No, not tail, _tails_. It had nine long, furry tails moving about as if they had minds of their own.

He walked up to it slowly, noting that it didn't react to him, except to follow him with its eyes. As he got closer, he reached out to touch it on the head. As his hand made contact, his eyes widened, surprised by how soft the fur was.

He was about to start petting it when a feminine voice resounded throughout the room, one he seemed to instinctively know came from the fox before him. "Don't even think about petting me."

He jerked his hand back in surprise. "Wha?"

For the first time, the vixen moved a part of her body aside from her tails and eyes as her head swiveled so it was facing him, whose head was just at her eye level. "Welcome to my room, my prison, and my home."

He took another look around the area. "Your prison? This doesn't look like a prison to me. And where are we anyways, and who are you. Why can you talk."

The foxes eye twitched as he fired off his list of questions. He was about to continue them when a glare from the vulpine in front of him cut him off.

Said fox rose to all fours, and began walking to a chair, him following close behind.

"This," She began. "Is your mind, Naruto"

He stopped and looked at her in immense confusion. "My… Mind?"

She nodded. "Yes. This is what is referred to as a 'Mindscape'. It is the place where the conscious and the subconscious meet, and is also the place where you dream. Some, however, have the unique privilege to come here and be completely conscious. You are one of those few."  
>His eyes widened, and he instantly became enraptured by the thought of it. "So… can I control this place then?"<p>

She nodded. "Yes, however, this room is something that you cannot control. It is my domain." She motioned with one of her tails for Naruto to sit in the seat that she was now sitting next to.

"But why, if this is my mind, why can you control it?" He asked.

She stared at him for a moment. "I can control this space, because it has been partitioned off by the seal."

He cocked his head in confusion. "The seal? What seal?"

"The seal placed on you moments after your birth by my request. This kind of seal is the meeting point between two souls, one binding the other with its power." She replied.

This cleared up a little of the confusion running through his mind, but not all of it. He still had one question he really wanted to know. "But then… Who are you?"

There was a short silence as the fox stared at him, seemingly contemplating something.

"Naruto," She started slowly. "Do you know about the bijuu?"

He nodded slowly, a ball of lead forming in the pit of his stomach. "Yeah… They're the most powerful demons in existence… Why are you asking me about them?"

The fox stood back up on all fours and walked even closer to him. "Naruto, my name is Kaede… I am the Kyuubi, the most powerful demon there is."

There was no arrogance in her tone, only knowledge that she was in fact, the most powerful demon on the planet, and in a class of her own. He didn't stop to think about that, however, as he was still trying to put everything together. He knew what she had said, it was simple enough, but every time he put everything she said together, he kept coming to the same conclusion that he knew had to be wrong.

He was the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi no Youko.

Disbelief was the first thing that he felt, but as he looked into the eyes of the demon before him, he knew that she wasn't lying, and everything he had heard was true.

Then came a sense of depressing acceptance. "So… I…"

There was a long pause as he tried to formulate something, anything, to say. She beat him to it, however. "Naruto… I know this is a shock to you, but you needed to know as soon as you could. If I had waited any longer, others would have corrupted you, made you hate demons for no reason other than that being what others told you. I woke up today when you pulled on my chakra when you accessed your own. I can see what you can, and hear what you do, so I knew that there was only so much time before I couldn't make you accept the truth."

"So…" He said dejectedly. "What does that make me… Some sort of demon child?"

"And if you are?" She asked. His head snapped up, tears glistening in his eyes and threatening to fall. She sighed and continued. "You aren't a demon child, but what I'm saying, Naruto, is that demons aren't all as bad as humans say we are. Most are, I'll grant you that. There are plenty that just want to rampage and destroy, but that doesn't mean that all of us are that way. I prefer to stay out of humans business and manage my own demons peacefully.

"And when I asked to be sealed in you, I did so to help you." He looked like he was about to ask her a question. "And no, I won't tell you why I had myself sealed."

There was a long pause. "Why should I believe _you_, a demon?"

She stared into his eyes. "What if I were to offer to become your friend Naruto?"

He was immediately thrown off guard. "What?"

She nodded. "That girl, Hinata, is your only friend, right?" At his nod, she continued. "Well let me be your friend too, to prove that not all demons are bad."

"I...I…" He stuttered, to unsure of how to answer.

"How about this, I'll teach you about being a ninja. I've learned quite a few things about it on my path to being the most powerful being on this plane." She said.

He was silent for a long while, contemplating. He looked into her eyes, the gateways to the soul, and realised there wasn't a hint of malice in her orbs, only a desire to help him. A grin split his face. "I guess I can't say no to another friend, especially if they offer to teach me something awesome."  
>A smile crossed her vulpine face as well, and Naruto started as a poof of smoke accompanied the sound of cracking bones and tearing muscles. When the smoke faded, it left a woman whose beauty was incomparable where the fox had been standing.<p>

Naruto was thoroughly confused before he saw the Nine tails waving behind her and the two fox ears perched atop her head. "Wha?"

She smirked. "It would be hard to teach you chakra control techniques if i were in my fox form, now wouldn't it?

"Uh… I guess so, yeah… I didn't even realise demons had a human form." He said.

"Don't worry, I'll teach you as much as I can when you come here every night, things about demons included." She stated.

**Nine hours later**

Naruto's mouth slid open as he concentrated on keeping the kunai floating an inch above his finger with nothing more than his chakra when he saw a tail snatch the knife out of mid air.

The metal object evaporated as he turned to see Kaede standing beside him. "It's about time for you to wake up, Naruto. But before you go, I need to tell you something very important."

He cocked his head to the side, wondering what she was talking about. "Ok, what is it?"

She kneeled down and grabbed him by the shoulders, staring directly into his eyes. "No matter what you do, no matter what happens, and no matter who asks, tell no one that you're a demon host. _No one._"

He was taken aback. "No one? But why?"

Getting used to the idea of being around demons in the time he had spent with the fox, he had forgotten about how much hatred humans had for their demon enemies. "Not everyone is as receptive to the idea of befriending a demon as you. In fact, there are many people who would hunt you down and kill you for being what you are. For your safety, don't let anyone know. Please."

Seeing how serious she was, Naruto nodded slowly, then grinned. "Don't worry Kaede-chan! The secret is safe with me!"

A smirk adorned her face a the honorific, and she grabbed the boy and squeezed him in a hug that pressed his face against her quite ample bosom, a position that nearly every other male would give nearly anything to be in, but Naruto didn't quite understand. Naruto quickly hugged her back, and after a few moments, he felt himself start to fade out of the mindscape.

**Behind the Konoha Academy, Hours later**

Naruto sat on a stone wall, thinking about the lesson that Iruka had just finished giving before he released them for lunch. It was on the early days of Konoha's history, and how the village had come about. It was interesting, actually, and he hoped that he would learn more things like that during his time at the academy, alongside the ninja techniques.

He felt hunger gnaw at his stomach and remind him that, once again, he had nothing to eat for lunch. He sighed and wished that the orphanage got more money so that he could have something to eat with the other students every day.

His thoughts were interrupted abruptly as someone sat down next to him. He looked over and his eyes brightened as he realised that it was Hinata. "Hey Hinata-chan!"

She smiled at him. "Hi Naruto-kun." Before he could ask her anything about her day, she thrust a hand out.

In her hand she held a bento box, filled with food. Naruto was about to reject it before he realised that she held a near identical one in her other hand. "You… you have two?"

She giggled. "Of course. When you told me that you had no way of getting lunch, I decided that I would make two every day, and give one to you!"

His eyes glistened as he realised what she had done. He grabbed her in a tight hug, making her squeak in surprise. "Wh-What are you doing?"

He was too busy chanting "Thank you" over and over again to respond immediately.

After a few minutes he sat back up straight and wiped the tears from his eyes. "Thank you so much, Hinata-chan. I'll make it up to you, I promise! I'll be the best friend ever!"

A/N: Hoped you liked the second chapter of demons! This is a pretty long chapter by my standards and I'm actually pretty surprised myself that it turned out at the length it did. Anyways, just remember that reviews are always welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

Welcome back! Before I start im just gonna answer the one question that I had in the reviews:

oghren- The academy only goes to age twelve. If your wondering because of the Akumanoshi recruitment, it's just an alternative to the usual three man teams in terms of training.

Thanks to everyone that reviewed! I appreciate it a ton!

Demons:

Chapter 3:

Naruto grinned to himself as he walked down the street, Hinata walking beside him. He bit down on the stick of pocky currently being held between his teeth. Both were on their way to the training grounds they regularly used for training. They went there almost every day, pushing each other to their limits in order to improve.

It had worked, too. They had become two of the strongest genin ever to graduate the konoha academy, right behind the likes of Itachi Uchiha and Minato Namikaze.

Naruto had shown great promise in kenjutsu, which he had found out their sensei brought in a ninjato to class to see if it would suit any of students. A few, including Naruto, had taken to the blade, and Iruka told them to speak to their jounin sensei's when they graduated about learning more.

He also showed an even greater promise in genjutsu, something none of their classmates were interested in, aside from being able to break them when casted. He was able to absorb information about the art with incredible pace, learning what was given to him faster than the instructors could teach him.

Thats not to say that his other skills were lacking. He only had one ninjutsu beyond that of the academy, but only because he didn't have a way to learn any more, but his taijutsu was better than most in the class.

It paled in comparison to Hinata's however. Her Juuken made her a force to be reckoned with in close quarters, so much so that many of the instructors couldn't face her in bouts of taijutsu. Her other skills were also solid. She could break most genjutsu, and her ninjutsu was up to par. She didn't have much skill with a blade, but she was capable enough of defending herself against one if need be.

Naruto grinned and swallowed the rest of the pocky he had in his mouth as the pair walked into the middle of the clearing that dominated much of the training ground they were at. The two walked to opposite ends of the area and faced each other, taking their own stances.

A wind blew, and a leaf floated gently towards the ground. Both stood still waiting for the other to make a move.

The leaf was picked up by a gust of wind right as it was about to touch the ground, sending it tumbling through the air. The two remained still, neither wanting to make the first move.

The leaf moved gently down seeming to stop before it landed.

Then it touched the blades of grass on the ground, and the two burst forward.

Naruto threw a jab at his friend's jaw, only for it to be blocked. He knew that fighting her in hand to hand combat was a bad idea, but it was necessary. He had formed a plan long before they had arrived, as he was sure Hinata had as well. They knew how the other fought well enough that the spar was as much of a battle of wits as it was of strength and skill.

The fight continued in a taijutsu bout for quite some time, and he let Hinata control it. Neither were fighting particularly hard, as they were both waiting for the perfect time to put their plans into action.

Hinata got her opportunity first as Naruto stepped back to avoid a quick jyuuken strike to his chest. He stepped on a rock and slipped, forcing him off balance. She took advantage, putting on a burst of speed to position herself behind him before he could recover and turn.

Before she could actually strike, however, he managed to twist his body and recover his footing in time to see her chakra laced palm lash out.

Time seemed to slow as his already razor sharp senses went into overdrive to take in everything they could. Trees, leaves, and even blades of grass snapped into focus. He could hear every bird chirp and every leaf whistle in the wind. He could smell every scent in the clearing with incredible clarity.

Less than a split second later, he moved forward even as Hinata's hand moved towards him.

As the hand touched his chest he didn't even pause. He had immediately seen that the Hinata in front of him lacked a shadow, and instantly began searching for any sign of another.

When he couldn't see one, a hundred scenarios flashed through his mind. He considered and systematically discarded each for one reason or another faster than most people could even think of them.

He had found the one he judged as the most likely and acted on it. Even as he passed through the clone, dispelling it, his hands were blurring through the hand signs for a complex genjutsu. He felt chakra coming off of Hinata's palm right behind his back.

He flipped forward and braced his feet against the tree in front of him.

He grinned as he felt the genjutsu take effect on his friend.

He pushed off of the tree, cracking the bark and launching himself backwards and over her head.

He finished the flip and landed behind her, and seeing that the technique had done it's job and prevented her from moving her limbs, he prepared to put a kunai to her neck and end the spar. Before he got the chance, however, she pulsed her chakra and dispelled the illusion, forcing him to engage her in taijutsu once again.

He frowned as he realised that they were back to fighting in her element. He noticed her smirking and grinned internally. The bait was laid out, now all he had to do…

Soon he saw her move slightly back and begin flashing through a short sequence of hand seals that he immediately recognized.

"**Donton: Iwahashira no jutsu!(Earth Release: Rock Pillar technique)**" He let off a tiny pulse of chakra, and dodged the rock that burst up behind him by jumping towards Hinata. As soon as he was in close enough, he moved behind her and held a kunai to her neck.

She pulsed her chakra and tensed, then sighed. "When did you put the second genjutsu on me?"

He grinned. "At the same time as the first."

Her eyes widened a fraction. "How long have you been able to use dual layered genjutsu."

"I've been practicing for a couple of months now. I only got a hold of it three or four days ago." He said with a grin. It was no small feat either. It took an incredible amount of chakra control and concentration to use dual layered genjutsu.

She sighed again. "So… graduation is tomorrow isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Naruto replied. "I was thinking…"

She turned around and looked at him as he pulled the kunai away. "About taking the hunting group out for one last hunt?" He nodded. "I was thinking about that too. We're going to be too busy and too split up to do it again."

He nodded again. "One last hunt huh?"

He watched as she smiled, making butterflies flutter around his stomach. "I'll go get Sakura and Ino. You go get Sasuke and Kiba."

Hinata smiled again, sending butterflies through his stomach a second time, then disappeared in a shunshin. He left in his own a second later.

**Half an hour later, Forest outside Konoha**

The group of six academy students moved quietly through the bush, making nary a sound as they searched. They had yet to find their prey, but it never took long.

Naruto felt his heart speed up as he felt the chakra of a demon a few hundred yards to the south. This was their prey, and one the group had gotten very good at finding and killing over the past couple of years. They had fought quite a few of them, up to C class.

Hunting demons wasn't legal, however, and they had to sneak out of the village very carefully each time. They hadn't been caught so far, though, and they had no reason to think they would be this time either.

He felt something off about this demon's signature, but he couldn't quite place it. He had spent a portion of his time training with Kaede on detecting and reading chakra and youkai signatures. It was one of the many benefits of being her host.

He glanced at Hinata out of the corner of his eye. She had her byakugan active and was already motioning for the rest of the group to stop.

She turned to them and whispered. "Found one. Two-hundred meters south by southwest."

Sasuke turned in the direction that she mentioned. "What kind?"

"Wolf. Looks like a low class C." She replied. They all looked at each other and moved at once.

A couple of minutes later they found themselves watching a huge wolf, ten feet tall and nearly twice as long. It was walking slowly through the woods, its nose to the ground. Suddenly it stopped, bringing its snout up and looking around.

It sniffed at the air a few times before turning right towards them. Before it could start moving, however, the group shot out of the woods, Sasuke and Kiba leading the charge.

Sasuke began flashing through hand seals, preparing to unleash a fireball on the wolf. As soon as he got within range a huge mass of flame burst out of his mouth, slamming right into the wolf's side.

The Uchiha smirked as Naruto landed beside him along with Kiba. "Easy."

Naruto didn't relax like the others did, instead staying on guard while watching the fireball dissipate.

Hinata, who still had her byakugan active, suddenly yelled out to her friends. "Get back! It's still alive!"

The three academy students jumped back, clearing the area just in time to dodge the claw that cut through the air that their bodies had just occupied. The slash cleared the smoke enough that the group could get a good look at the demon.

It had grown considerably and was now fifteen feet tall and nearly thirty five feet long. Its fangs and claws had grown another six or seven inches and looked as sharp as razor blades. Its fur had grown longer and looked unkempt. It was growling feraly at all of them with its lips peeled back, giving them all a good look at the a teeth that could rip them to shreds in seconds.

The group started sweating as the demon started putting off a considerable amount of killing intent.

'_Shit!' _Naruto thought, '_This isn't a class C. It's at least a high B.'_ Before he could tell the rest of the academy student that they needed to run, Kiba and Sasuke rushed forward, intent on killing the menacing wolf. Ino and Sakura, in perfect tandem with their male counterparts, launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken. Hinata shot off to flank the beast from behind, leaving him alone.

Cursing, he ran through the hand seals to his one ninjutsu. "**Fuuton: Daitoppa!(Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)**". He launched a large ball of wind at the demon. Right as it was about to hit, the wolf jumped into the air, dodging it completely.

Thought his attack had missed, he smirked a little. As he knew they would, Sasuke and Kiba jumped on the opportunity granted to them by their opponent jumping airborne.

Sasuke launched a large fireball once again, this time aimed directly for the wolf's stomach.

"Tsuuga!" Kiba spun like a human drill, following just behind the Uchiha's fireball and slamming right into the wolf. The beast was sent flying into a group of trees, breaking them.

Naruto looked into the trees, waiting for any sign of the demon. After a few tense moments there was the sound of slapping bones and a large puff of smoke that obscured the demon's form. Naruto, along with all of the other students, stayed on guard, waiting for the wolf to make its move.

After a few more tense seconds that seemed like hours, he saw a form appear in the smoke. It was tall, at least six and a half feet. When it walked out of the smoke, Naruto saw the demons human form. It had pale skin that had a grey tinge, along with short grey hair that was disheveled like his fur had been. He was wearing nothing, so Naruto could see that he had bulging muscles that looked like they could break any one of him or his friends in half with no effort.

"You brats are really starting to piss me off." The wolf growled.

Naruto heard Hinata curse to herself and mutter under her breath. "Shit… If he has a human form, he's probably a class B." She turned and looked at Naruto. "Naruto-kun, we need to get out of here, we can't take on a demon like him yet. We're not-"

She was cut off as she caught sight of the humanoid beast leaping behind her with her. "Look out!" Naruto yelled. He launched himself towards the demon, blocking its claws with a kunai as it tried to cut Hinata's head off.

He heard Kiba's voice from behind the wolf. "Tsuuga!" Before the spinning boy could impact however, the wolf backhanded him without even sparing him a glance. Kiba was launched into another tree, and he groaned as he tried to get back up.

Naruto grit his teeth as the demon put more pressure on the kunai, making Naruto's arms begin shaking and forcing him to drop to his knees.

He watched as the wolf pulled his other claw back, preparing to gut him with it. Hinata saw the hole in his guard and, with a burst of speed, got close and began launching juuken strikes.

The demon was startled at the sudden speed, and had seven of its tenketsu closed off before it reacted and kicked her away. Naruto saw an opportunity and slipped out from underneath the wolf's claws to stab his kunai deep into the back of the wolfs leg.

He was stabbed in the shoulder with the beasts claws for his effort. Before it could finish him off however, Sasuke came up behind it and hit it in the ribs with a powerful roundhouse kick.

The wolf sucked in a breath and roared ferociously, infusing the primal sound with youkai. The air blasted everything around it away a good ten feet.

He landed next to Hinata, who was picking herself up and watching the stationary wolf warily. Each breath it took came out as a throaty, intimidating growl. "I'm done playing with you petty ningens."

It disappeared from their sight, moving faster than they could see. It appeared next to Kiba, who was still trying to pick himself up. The demon grabbed the Inuzuka by the throat, dragging his back against the tree as he lifted him to eye level. It reared its arm back, preparing to behead the boy. It put too much weight on its injured leg, however, and it stumbled. It caught itself though, and once again prepared to kill Kiba.

Naruto looked with wide eyes, time slowed, and the world snapped into sharp focus for the second time that day. He was never so thankful for what he had affectionately dubbed his "Fight mode". His mind blazed through every plan he could think of, but everyone ended in failure and Kiba's end. He, nor his one ninjutsu, were fast enough to stop the demon.

Then another plan burst into his mind. It was crazy, and the chances of it working were nil, but he didn't have a choice. He was running out of time to figure something out.

'_I need to do it… I can't… No, I won't fail.'_ He flashed through hand seals. He called out the name of the jutsu in his mind. '**_Akuma no Genjutsu: Oni no Kyoufu!_(Demons Illusion: Fear of the Beast)**'.

The wolf's claws shot forward, and Naruto's heart stopped. '_No… No… Why-Why didn't it work?'_ But right as Kiba's end was a mere split second away, the demon stopped, it's eyes wide.

"Wha-What… No. It can't be… Not here! IT CAN'T BE HERE!" The wolf let go of Kiba, completely forgetting its existence in favor of staring wide eyed at what the genjutsu was showing it.

Hinata and Sasuke, both of which had seen Naruto's hand seals, exploded forward like bullets. Neither of them had any idea what the beast was seeing, but they were planning to take full advantage of its distraction. They both reached the wolf at the same time, and launched into a dance as their strikes flowed between each others. Years of working as a team had honed their teamwork to near perfect levels.

Hinata was rapidly closing tenketsu and shutting down organs at the same time that Sasuke was crushing bones as tissue with each strike.

Dozens of strikes later, Naruto watched the demon finally fell to its knees and give one last shuddering breath.

He immediately collapsed back against the trunk of the nearest tree, giving a long sigh of relief. Everyone was more or less fine. Kiba was shaken up, but a concussion and maybe one or two fractured ribs was infinitely better than the alternative. He saw Sakura and Ino standing from where they had been thrown by the roar and knocked out. Aside from a knot on Sakura's head, they seemed fine. Sasuke and Hinata had come out of it with nothing more than a few bruises.

All in all, they were lucky to be alive, much less in as good shape as they were.

He sat for a few more seconds, then pulled himself to his feet. Hinata was tending to Kiba's wounds with a first aid kit, and Sasuke was already working on skinning the wolf that had returned to its beast form upon death. It's hide could be made into moderately high quality leather armor once they sold it back in Konoha.

Once Hinata was done helping Kiba, she turned to was looking at him closely, as if trying to find the answer to her yet unasked question by her byakugan alone. "How did you manage to catch a demon in a genjutsu? Their youkai is too dense for humans to do it unless they're an expert with illusions. Kurenai-san, Konoha's best genjutsu user, can barely even do it."

Naruto looked at the girl that was his closest friend, briefly considering telling her the truth. As soon as the thought came, it was dismissed, however. He had promised Kaede that he would tell no one.

"It was a genjutsu that I read about at the Library. It was specifically made to work on demons. It probably worked because of my dense chakra." He lied. "It was the only thing that I could think of to do at the time."

Hinata looked at him surprised. "Well," She started. "It worked I guess. And it did save Kiba's life…"

Sasuke, who had finished skinning the wolf and sealing the hide in a sealing scroll, walked over to the pair. He nodded at Naruto. "Good job Naruto." With that he walked away and began getting the other three academy students ready to head back to Konoha.

Hinata looked at Naruto and smiled. "He's right I guess. Good job Naruto-kun, you saved our asses. I don't know what we would have done if Kiba had gotten his guts ripped out. Thanks." She pulled him into a hug, then laid a kiss on his cheek, making his face turn bright red.

Hinata giggled as she watched him stutter. "N-N-No p-p-p-problem."

His mouth stretched into an embarrassed grin and he scratched the back of his head.

**The next day, Konoha Academy**

Naruto looked around the class. It would be his last time sitting in it as a student, and while it made him excited, he also felt a little sad about it. For those joining Akumanoshi, like Hinata undoubtedly would, it would mean that he would see them rarely, if at all. He would make sure that he and Hinata would stay best friends though, no matter what.

As if summoned by his very thoughts, the Hyuuga heiress chose that moment to sit next to him.

"Hey Naruto-kun." She said.

"Hey Hinata-chan!" He replied with a smile.

She seemed indecisive about something for a second. The moment passed quickly, however, and she looked him straight in the eye.

"Naruto-kun… Please, please, reconsider..." She said.

His happy smile faded away slowly as he realised what she was talking about. "Hinata-chan, we've been over this. I won't do it."

"Please, Naruto-kun. You're the best demon hunter that I know. I don't get why you won't just join Akumanoshi with me. We can request to be put on the same team and we'll get to kill demons together." She pleaded.

Naruto scowled, then sighed. "Hinata-chan… I'm sorry, I really am. But I can't." It wasn't that he thought he wouldn't like it in Akumanoshi. On the contrary, he enjoyed putting down demons that gave the whole race a bad name. He couldn't join, though, because he was sure that it wouldn't be long before someone found out he was a demon host. It was their job after all.

Hinata scowled as well. "And you won't tell me why! You just tell me you can't! It's all you say!"

She seemed to be on the verge of tears, and it tore Naruto's heart to pieces, but he couldn't give in.

After a few second of silence, Hinata spoke up again. "Fine… I'll respect your privacy, Naruto-kun… But if you ever change your mind, I'm sure they'll let you join."

"QUIET DOWN CLASS" Iruka yelled as he walked in the door to the class. He cleared his throat before continuing. "I congratulate all of you in making it this far.

"However, before you can make the next step in your career, you will need to pass the genin exam. For those of you who wish to join the vaunted ranks of the Hunters, there will be a separate test for you to take in lieu of the Konoha exam. It will be more difficult, so be sure that you're prepared if you want to attempt it. If you fail, you will still be able to try and become a Konoha genin.

"We will start with the top student this year. Hinata Hyuuga, which test would you like to take?"

"I want to join the Akuma." She replied quickly.

The teacher nodded. "Very well. There are two representatives from Akumanoshi waiting for applicants in the next room over. Follow me."

Hinata stood up and, with one final glance back towards Naruto, followed her sensei out the door.

**Two hours later, outside the Academy**

The students were gathered outside the front of the school building. Those who passed were grinning and celebrating with their friends and family. Those who didn't were scowling and heading home quickly.

Among those scowling was one Sasuke Uchiha. He wasn't going home, but had failed the Akumanoshi test nonetheless. "They failed me because of a general knowledge test… Why do I need to know the last known sighting of a drake demon? They're dead! It doesn't matter! IT'S BULLSHIT!" He lashed out a foot at the nearby fence, obliterating a few boards with the harsh kick.

He had passed the Konoha genin exam of course, but he had failed the Hunter's test. He wasn't able to pass the 'General Knowledge' part of the test. It was the written test about demons that had nothing to do with killing them. It was considered important because of the age old adage 'Know thine enemy'.

Naruto walked up behind the fuming boy. "Sasuke?"

The Uchiha whirled on the him, sending him a glare. "What?"

"I heard about what happened…" He trailed off as the raven haired boys glare intensified.

After a short and awkward pause, Sasuke finally stopped glaring and sighed. "Do you know why I wanted to join the Akuma's so bad?"

Naruto nodded. "Because of the… Attack?" Sasuke nodded in response.

The attack that he was referring to was known throughout the world as the Uchiha Massacre.

The Uchiha's had decided to travel to another country as a clan in order to improve relations with a city there. They had traveled down a well used road that was well maintained for most of their journey. However, there was a stretch after that road ended that they had to travel on a less used road in order to get to another main thoroughfare.

What none of them knew was that the road had recently been claimed by an S-Class demon as its territory.

Territory that it didn't like the humans encroaching on.

It attacked, and when the smoke cleared, the only survivors were seven year old Sasuke and his older brother Itachi, who had managed to finally kill the demon. The two limped back to Konoha over a three month trek. When they finally made it back and told the village what happened, they were stared at with pity and given words of condolence.

And Sasuke hated it. He hated it with every fiber of his being. They didn't understand. None of them could. The pain, the loneliness. None of those who looked at him like that could understand what he felt.

But Naruto had never looked at him like that. Naruto looked at him and treated him just like he treated everyone else. It was something that made the Uchiha respect the blond.

After the massacre, Sasuke vowed that he would dedicate his life to killing as many demons as he could.

"If you know why I wanted to join, then you know why I can't just accept that I'll be stuck as a Konoha shinobi." Sasuke said bitterly.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah… But look at it this way, I didn't join Akumanoshi either, so maybe we'll end up on the same team."

Sasuke looked surprised. "You- You didn't join? Why?"

Naruto hadn't told anyone but Hinata that he didn't plan to join the Hunters. They had all just assumed that he would and left it at that.

He frowned. "It's… Not something that I like to talk about."

Sasuke stared at him for a few seconds before nodded. "Alright. I won't pry."

The blond gave the other boy a lopsided grin. "Cool. We're gonna be on the same team, I know it. Let's do our best to kick as much demon ass as we can as Konoha shinobi!"

Sasuke grinned in response, then held out his arm. Naruto's grin widened and the two grasped each others forearms in an unspoken promise to be the best demon hunters the world had ever seen.

* * *

><p>AN: Shit guys. So sorry for the late update… Like really late, but a lot of shits been going on. My grandma passed away from pancreatic cancer, and I was spending some time with her out in Arizona before she died. I really didn't feel like writing while it was all going down.

Then my basement flooded, and I had to help deal with that. Between those two things, college apps, and trying to make Eagle Scout, I've been unable to really write.

Once again, so sorry guys.


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